Advice before I purchase

T

TrueBlue11c

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Mar 31, 2014
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I want a new blade for tameshigiri. I'm currently looking at the hanwei bamboo mat katana and the hanwei bushido katana. I would just like to know what you guys prefer. I'd appreciate any advice.
 
TrueBlue11c said:
I want a new blade for tameshigiri. I'm currently looking at the hanwei bamboo mat katana and the hanwei bushido katana. I would just like to know what you guys prefer. I'd appreciate any advice.
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Where do you train?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Independent now. I've trained in a few places. There's no schools anywhere near me now.
I just want to retain what I know. Personally I have a lot more experience with sai.
I don't do wild chopping with anything, I try to focus more on precision with anything I use.
What do you prefer to use for cutting?
 
TrueBlue11c said:
What do you prefer to use for cutting?
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Of what is commonly available now, I prefer the Tiger Elite by CAS Iberia...it runs a little more than $1,000 and is completely worth it in my experience.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I personally like the Cheness cutlery Oniyuri Shinobigata Katana. Tons and tons of backyard fun with that one. I also like the extra long tsuka. I got mine in 9260 spring steel. Again tons of fun.
 
I definitely like the Tiger Elite. I see a lot of fans of the Cheness, I'm not sure where to buy them though. How is the balance of your cheness? Are they blade heavy or do they have a better center balance? Also how sharp are they, out of box?
Thanks
 
TrueBlue11c said:
I definitely like the Tiger Elite. I see a lot of fans of the Cheness, I'm not sure where to buy them though. How is the balance of your cheness? Are they blade heavy or do they have a better center balance? Also how sharp are they, out of box?
Thanks
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BePrepared- picked out a nice piece. I must agree with him on all aspects. My oniyuri is quite balenced and I opted for the Bo-hi option in "sharp" I was satisfied with the sharpness, although my experience in production swords is rather limited, it is certainly better than most based on reviews. You can purchase either they oniyuri or the tenchi right from the www.chenessinc.com or google cheness cutlery. Here is a similar link that BePrebared offered but for my sword.

http://www.chenessinc.com/9260oniyuri.htm


I am eager to see what you purchase. I would definitely go with Cheness for the balance of blade quality and affordability. You don't get the custom furniture option but the furniture you do get is rather high quality and bad ass to say the least.
 
There are a lot of things to consider when choosing a production katana. Do you have preferences as far as nagasa and tsuka length, or sugata, hi or no hi, tsuka-ito material, etc.?
In general, while the Paul Chen Tiger and bushido are very nice and capable swords, they are a bit pricey. If you have this kind of budget they would be a good investment.
For lower priced choices I would suggest perhaps a Kris cutlery 29 or 26 or the Dynasty Forge musha line (or Bushi line for a bit more $) or for a less expensive but still capable Hanwei you could take a look at the Musashi XL. I would also suggest looking through some offerings from ebay seller HuaWei Swords

I would personally avoid a Cheness just because they are fairly outdated and overbuilt imho and for the price, you can get much better. They were a better choice when there weren't as many competitors on the market but honestly, there are many great swords to choose from these days.

-Josh
 
Well guys, I finally got my new blade in! It was one I didn't originally plan on getting but it will suffice for now. I figure once I get rid of some of my other stuff I can get a higher end model.
I don't know how to load pictures, so when I know how to do that I'll load some.
Anyways I ended up getting the Bamboo Mat kat. from Hanwei. And to be perfectly honest the balance and weight is on par, better than my prior kats. But I plan on getting a few more in the near future. I'll definitely look into all of the brands you all suggested.
Thank you all for your help. Help me figure out pics and I'll post them here.
Honestly everything is great about this kat. the only thing I'd like to change, would be to have a traditional taper in the tsuka that's it.
 
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TrueBlue11c said:
Help me figure out pics and I'll post them here.
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You need to upload your pics to a hosting site like photobucket, then take the url the site will assign to it (http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz71/frankthebuny/Copper Seppa/seppastraight1.jpg), click the image button above this text body, enter your tag, and click ok
and it will appear like this when posted
seppastraight1.jpg
 
DSCF1208_zps54e3a35c.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]


If you're good at I spy with my little eye, you'll see another one of my favorite items in this pic.
 
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Nice little hawk eh? Looks like a fun sword. Hanwei makes pretty decent stuff for the money, and some pretty stellar pieces. I'm also a big fan of the Tiger Elite. I need to pick up another one of those...
 
Yeah, I'm waiting for the Tiger elite to become available again. I'm really trying to build descent collection. Trying to get rid of the stuff I need no longer, to make room for my blade collection. Since I have a lot of nerve damage in my left hand I'm going to get rid of some of my guitar stuff.
I'd really like to get an L6 katana. I also have a Busse battle mistress on the way. I'm also starting out with knife grinding, but would also like to forge small blades. And my hawk, oh man that thing is just great, I need to get a couple more of those too.
 
I heard Dynasty forge is operated by Paul Chens brother, any truth to that?
Is Dynasty pretty good? I've thought about getting one, they seem nice.
 
Negative, no relation. Dynasty Forge will run you anywhere from $400-$3000, depending on your budget. They have a great selection, and I have heard excellent things about them. Nice katana you got from Hanwei, there! How does it cut? You stated you owned other katana as well, do you mind sharing what they are? Your opinion would be greatly appreciated. HAHAHA! I guess "higher end" is relative to the individual! Thank you all, good sirs.
 
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